Leader Appoints New Members of Council of Cultural Revolution

 Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, appointed the members of the Council of Cultural Revolution for the new term. His Eminence also laid down specific guidelines for the new term. The following is the full text of this edict issued on October 18, 2014.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

The existential philosophy behind the Council of Cultural Revolution is understanding, explaining, proving and implementing the cultural identity of the Islamic Revolution, re-deploying the cultural front of the Islamic Revolution in a constant way and supervising the cultural achievements of the country in line with the capacities and great resources of Islamic and revolutionary Iran.

Strategic management for the challenges that this area is faced with is possible with complete, efficient and convergent use of all opportunities and capacities and by curbing threats and detriments in a wise and reasonable way and by confronting the invasion of aggressors and belligerent people in an intelligent way. These are the main responsibilities of this council. Knowledge production, lifestyle, education, public culture and cultural engineering are key, fundamental and important areas whose organization in the Islamic Republic falls on the shoulders of the Council of Cultural Revolution.

The commitment of the Council of Cultural Revolution to its name and title is the main condition for its success in the important missions that it has been dispatched on.

Considering the end of another term of the Council of Cultural Revolution and the beginning of a new term, the real and legal members of this council are appointed - like the previous term - for another three-year term with the addition of the president's deputy in charge of planning and strategic supervision, the president's deputy in charge of family issues and women's affairs and the head of Islamic Promotion Office.

I deem it necessary to thank the endless and fruitful efforts of the honorable head and members of the Council of Cultural Revolution as well as the esteemed secretary and secretariat of this council in the previous term and to raise the following points as the priorities of the council in the new term:

1- Considering the good efforts of the council in following up prioritized bills in previous years, the main priority for the council in the present time is quick and complete implementation and follow up of all decisions and bills until they produce results.

2- Considering the existence of a serious clash between the supporters of revolutionary and Islamic culture and their hostile and motivated opponents, the Council of Cultural Revolution should encourage and ensure advocates of religious and revolutionary culture inside and outside the country and it should make opponents concerned and hopeless by confronting this clear cultural clash in an active and innovative way.

3- Considering the enormous growth and great development of cultural activities at a public level, particularly among religious and revolutionary youth, the cultural organizations of the Islamic Republic - headed by the Council of Cultural Revolution - should assume the role of complementary, facilitating and inspiring links in the voluntary and comprehensive activities of people in the area of culture and they should remove obstacles on their way.

4- The quantitative and qualitative improvement of consumption and production of cultural goods is not possible except by formulating proper policies, taking action in a diligent and constant way and bringing to the arena all the national capacities of this arena. Re-engineering the structure of cultural activities and management by adopting such an outlook is the prerequisite for success in this historical-cultural arena. The Council of Cultural Revolution should be able to re-organize and converge all software and hardware capacities and all human resources of the cultural area in line with the above-mentioned conditions.

5- The serious follow-up of the progress and acceleration of the scientific and technological movement of the country is one of the main priorities of the country and the Council of Cultural Revolution plays a serious role in it. Thankfully, with the ratification and announcement of the comprehensive scientific plan of the country, the area of science and technology has found its roadmap. The committee in charge of implementing the comprehensive scientific plan has been formed, the movement on this path has begun and it has produced good results until now. It is necessary for the officials in the three branches of government - particularly the honorable administration - to follow up this path in a more serious and careful way. The rate of the scientific growth of the country should not decrease at all with any excuse. Rather, it should increase on a daily basis and the council should play its part in supervising and developing it in a serious and active way.

6- Cultural engineering, the issue of change and innovation in the educational and scientific system of the country - including higher education organizations and the educational system - and transformation in the area of humanities, which has been emphasized in previous terms, have not produced ideal results yet. Delay in carrying out these tasks will inflict a serious loss to the Islamic Revolution. Therefore, these tasks should be pursued in a more serious way. They should be carried out with a revision and with new planning in a reasonable and possible period of time.

7- Regular and on time arrangement of meetings in the council, active and constructive participation and preparation of members - particularly the honorable heads of the three branches of government - in the meetings and discussions of the council, making time and showing diligence is very important for all members particularly the real members of the council.

I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow success on all the members of this council.

Sayyid Ali Khamenei